Gambling has been around for millennia — this is backed up by historical evidence. However, while there is no proof showing that people have attempted to cheat at games of chance for a very long time, it is safe to assume that as soon as any game got invented, sometime shortly after, someone tried to use nefarious tactics on it to gain an edge.
It was only in the 20th century the wider public could get informed of gambling scandals, thanks to mass media outlets getting born. Two famous examples of people using special techniques to triumph at casinos that made headlines include Tommy Glenn Carmichael successfully confusing slot machines’ sensors to pay out prizes forcefully. And of course, the infamous MIT blackjack teamg taking millions from gaming venues across the globe via card counting for decades.
Even poker legend Phil Ivey, a man who has made a fortune through his card prowess, has resorted to cheating at US and UK casinos using an accomplice that fed him information regarding his dealer’s baccarat hands. Ivey’s partner in crime, Cheung Yin Sun, learned how to spot irregularities in decks that gave away their card’s value, making it easy for her to know what Ivey’s dealer was holding.
Today, many try to cheat at online casinos for real money. However, this is almost impossible to accomplish due to the nature of internet gaming technology (chiefly random number generator software), which is virtually impenetrable to underhanded strategies.
Below, I analyze the six most common terms relating to gamblers illegally trying to attain an upper hand over their chosen gaming operators.
Note that you cannot use these methods at safe online casinos (and we don’t recommend you visit a dangerous or blacklisted casino, let alone try to cheat at one) and that you shouldn’t try these at land-based ones because you could face significant legal ramifications.
1) Capping
Increasing one’s stake after a win is capping.
Before diving into what will be primarily a list of common tricks people pull at casinos, here is a tactic that can also get used in sports betting that many unfair gamblers try to pull.
This is the practice of upping a stake of a winning bet after it has already gotten won. That happens illegally, of course, during the timespan that the gambler finds out that his wager is a winning one and before a payout gets made.
At casinos, cheaters try to take advantage of weak dealers by adding more chips to their bet when no one is looking. Though, with an eye-in-the-sky camera system that most establishments now have, this is virtually impossible, no matter how absent-minded the dealer is at a given moment.
2) Grifter
The dictionary definition of a grifter defines a person who engages in small-scale swindling. For example, someone who tries to cheat at online casino games, looking to snag only modest profits and implement his techniques long-term, is a grifter.
Usually, this term describes street hustlers and people that try to pull low-level scams on strangers. The renowned confidence game – the Three-card Monte, also known as Find the Lady, is a prime instance of a grift that has been around since the 15th century and is still active on sidewalks across the globe.
3) Loaded Dice
An example of a loaded die.
Loaded dice is a die that has gotten tampered with so that it lands on a specific side. So, when throwing it, the element of chance is no longer in play, as it would be when playing with a regular die.
Multiple ways of loading a die exist, and they involve weighing or gimmicking one of its sides so that it is heavier than the rest. That can get done in various ways, including drilling the die and loading it with lead pellets. Perhaps, you have seen a few movies where cheaters have put marbles inside their dice so they always come up on seven. To combat this illegal practice, most high-end casinos now use transparent die. The same applies to live dealer games found at premium gambling sites.
4) Dragging
Dragging is when someone takes money off the table once a round has begun. The person in question does this without telling anyone at the table. It can also mean removing chips from tournament play and intending to pool them for later play to have a better starting advantage.
5) Marked Cards
Marked cards are what they sound like precisely. They are cards that have gotten tampered with so that a gambler can spot them in hands, which will lead him to have an idea regarding who holds what.
Players can mark cards by smudging them, bending their corners, scratching them, and through many other methods. It is a popular cheat i
n live poker games that cannot get utilized on video poker machines based on Five-Card Draw.
6) Palming
Palming is the most famous method of concealing cards.
Here is another trick some poker players mostly opt for at social money games, as it rarely works against high rollers and veterans.
This technique involves concealing cards so that it appears that a gambler does not have the adequate amount in his hand and needs to receive more cards.
So, when he has options for showing, a better hand-ranking increases.
Those who have palmed cards have to get rid of the ones they have concealed following a hand getting played, or they need to find a way to insert them back in play, which can be super hard. If there are missing cards from the deck, that fact will eventually get noticed.
To stay clear of card cheats, you should consider playing poker at one of our recommended sites. Check out our section of high-quality casino reviews to find which online operators supply the best card action on the internet.
